Etaoin Shrdlu

Good post. Thai tax rates get up to 35% faster than US tax rates, so it is possible for some people that their tax bill would be higher when paying Thai taxes, especially under a global taxation scenario. To some extent this would be mitigated by non-assessable income such as Social Security and/or military pensions as well as for those with really high income where US tax rates go up to 37%, although there are probably few Americans here that would fall into this tax bracket. There is also the issue of qualified dividends and capital gains being taxed at lower rates than ordinary income in the US, but not in Thailand. These are things to be aware of, but not lose sleep over. If Thai taxation of overseas income stays on a remittance basis, then it is generally easily managed.

The insurance company wants to make sure that the motorbike doesn't already have accident damage from before they start their cover. They won't pay to fix damage that was incurred prior to the start of their policy. The way to prove that there is no existing damages is to submit photos.

Just over a decade ago, when the IRS was blowing up Switzerland's bank secrecy, one of the dodges that they cracked was the use of debit and credit cards issued by Swiss banks to Americans to use in just the manner you contemplate. With FATCA and CRS, I think it would be even easier to get this info than it was 15 years ago. I'm not saying the Revenue Department will do this in a comprehensive way any time soon, but I don't think credit card or debit card info is beyond the reach of state actors,

I should have deduced that from your post even though you did not mention it specifically. My mistake. You should be ok then.

The 15% withholding that your US broker remits to the IRS is most likely not the actual amount of US taxes you will be required to pay. I think you will only get a credit against your Thai taxes for actual amount of tax paid as evidenced on your 1040 tax form and not the amount that gets withheld by your broker. Depending upon your income level, the actual tax you pay on your investment income to the IRS could be more or less than the 15% withheld.

My experience is different than yours. I'm still using both the Citibank online website and the Citibank mobile app. All of the branding remains Citibank and the account number is the same, Here's a screenshot of part of the notice I received by email from UOB on November 30th:

Citibank hasn't yet shifted accounts to UOB. I recently received a notice that UOB will take over Citibank accounts in the second quarter of 2024. You may want to call Citibank and see what they can do for you.

If you are remitting your offshore income as defined by the new rules, then you would be required to pay the tax. I don't think it will matter how or to whom the funds are remitted.

Western Union is an option. Probably more expensive than transferring from your bank, but I think you can transfer out up to 800,000 baht if you go to one of their locations. https://www.westernunion.com/th/en/send-money.html

You're on the right track attempting to make your tenant contractually liable for damages that may arise out of their activities and you are correct that your tenant may or may not have the means to make you whole for any liabilities that may attach to you due to their negligence. A good solution might be for you to require your tenant to take out third party liability insurance that is suitable for the exposures generated by their activities at your premises with you named as an additional insured. In addition, you may want to look at getting your own third party liability insurance to address any exposures that can't be shifted to your tenant or which they can't (or won't) indemnify you. Third party liability insurance for these types of exposures is not expensive in Thailand. Also make sure that the property insurance covering your building is valid for commercial use of the premises and that the insurer is aware that it is being rented out and used as a restaurant. Discuss these issues with your insurance broker and ask for advice on how to best address them.

According to the Bangkok Post, she's now been interrogated and charged by the Immigration Police with working without a work permit. Apparently posting content online as a paid influencer is considered work. It was also reported that she is here on a Privilege Card visa. I wonder if they'll deport and blacklist her after she spent all that money on the card/visa.

I know of at least one insurer here in Thailand that requires the prospective insured to submit copies of air tickets along with the proposal form when applying for single trip travel insurance. I'm sure that insurer would reject a proposal form where the period of coverage selected was not sufficient to cover the entire length of the trip evidenced by the tickets. Not all insurers may do this, however.

The OP is correct. When completing a proposal form for insurance, the prospective insured is obliged to answer all questions truthfully and accurately. This would include any questions regarding trip duration. If the length of the trip was not correctly declared, it is possible for an insurer to invalidate coverage from policy inception due to the proposer's failure to accurately complete the proposal form. This is a fundamental principle of insurance and is pretty much universally true. Some insurers may be more lenient than others when it comes to simple, minor miscalculations or unintentional mistakes on the proposal form and a good insurance broker can often help sort this type of problem. But it is essential to complete an insurance proposal form truthfully and correctly in order to avoid the issue that the OP describes. Don't give the insurer an easy out.

I don't know. I've never had a less toothache.

I don't think Bangkok Bank's New York branch provides consumer banking services, so I'm doubtful you'd be able to open an account. I think it is possible to transfer money to a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand via Bangkok Bank's New York branch using the US ACH system, but this would require the use of an international ACH form (if possible at all) and I'm not aware of any US banks that offer IACH forms as part of their online banking services. Would be happy to be otherwise informed if someone has more information on this.

I'm resurrecting this thread because our 2014 Fortuner is experiencing the stuck fuel gauge problem for the second time. The instrument cluster was replaced by the dealer when the car had 109,000 kilometers on the odometer. 55,000 kilometers later it has occurred for the second time. This problem is apparently quite common on Fortuners and Hiluxes and an internet search turns up several sites in other countries that state that this problem can be fixed inexpensively. Six years ago the Toyota dealer charged 17k for a new instrument cluster. I'd prefer to spend less to fix this as the car is now close to being ten years old. I've searchred the internet for a repair shop in Bangkok that could perform this service, but so far haven't found one. Has anyone been able to find such a shop in Bangkok?

Thailand has long been practicing a form of Neo-mercantilism that depresses wages, allocates capital and labor to export industries and suppresses consumption by means of excise and sumptuary taxes. This change will reduce government tax receipts and put further pressure other tax revenue streams such as corporate and personal income tax. I would prefer to drink wine less frequently, buy fewer luxury goods, and not have my income taxed aggressively.

Are you getting sight of the original MEA/PEA bills for all three meters or is the management simply presenting you with their own invoice for electricity without supporting documentation? If this is the case, you might want to take meter readings over the course of a month or so and then calculate what the MEA/PEA bill would have been using their tariff rates. If there is a large discrepancy, then it is likely that the management is inflating the bill, but since you don't have a contract that would spell out how utilities are to be charged, you'd probably still be at the mercy of the management.

I don't think the US participates in the CRS program. Instead, the US has FATCA. Thai banks have been collecting Social Security numbers on W-9 forms from US persons and sending account information via the Thai government to the IRS for a number of years now.

I think that under the standard motor policy in Thailand there is an exclusion for damage to tires unless there is also damage to other parts of the vehicle as a result of an accident. I'm not sure you'd have a valid claim if the tire was simply damaged by itself.

You might want to check out the Planet SCB card. https://www.scb.co.th/content/dam/scb/personal-banking/product-sales-sheet/prepaid-cards/planet-en.pdf I got them for my children when they traveled overseas. It can be topped up in foreign currency at any time using the SCB app at reasonably favorable rates. It also provides a level of security in that it does not expose your bank account balance in case the card number is compromised.

Thanks.

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't able to find wording elsewhere that was entirely clear.

My understanding is that the 190k allowance applies in place of the 150k allowance (untaxed first income tier), not in addition to it.

It is possible that the insurance broker is trying to stop referring their clients to offshore insurers due to concerns about OIC regulations. If this is indeed the motivation, I can see how this could be a difficult situation for the broker to manage with their client at this point.